We don't know you as well as your teammate Richard Lietz. Can you tell us about your background?
“I did karting for seven years to start with and I had the opportunity to step up to formula racing. The people who supported me tried to prepare me for Formula One but as everyone knows the road to Formula One is an expensive one. You need a big budget and things didn’t turn to my favour. That became clear quite early. Luckily I had contacts and one of my acquaintances started working with Porsche and he offered me a place on the Porsche Junior Team. I thought it was the right time. I wanted to turn professional and believed that I could do it. I had to make a crucial decision about which path to take. I knew I had the potential but things had already proved difficult. To be honest, I’d always dreamed of driving at Le Mans because the first ever race I saw was the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1999. We went to watch Tom Kristensen because he’d already won two years before and he had started to become a little bit of a legend already. So I came to Le Mans to watch him in 1999 and in 2000 I started karting.
It was all already in the back of my mind: endurance racing, watching Kristensen win Le Mans and all the championships. So when the Porsche opportunity came up it was a new goal and something I’ve always dreamed of. So that’s how I ended up with Porsche and in endurance racing. I’ve been with them for three years no and I couldn’t be happier.”
 

You’re driving the Porsche 911 RSR in the World Endurance Championship this season. Is it the same car as last year or are there some changes?
“Obviously with the new rules we tried to optimise what we could for LM GTE Pro. We have a higher rear wing, skirts on the side of the car and a bigger split on the front. So, aerodynamically it’s a step up. The engine power has been stepped up too. Basically, there’s a bit more performance.”

How does this car compare to the new generation GTEs like the Ford GT and the Ferrari F488?
“I think we have to wait and see. Every track favours different teams. Sometimes its easier, sometimes not. It’s always a struggle to qualify ahead of the red ones [Ferrari, ed.] Their performance is always strong and particularly this year with the new car. We have made some improvements too, but we haven’t changed as much as they have. They have a completely new car. We were already a little behind last year. But this year there is a bigger gap because they optimised more on their new car. We have to wait and see in the race but one thing is for sure, the red guys will be tough to beat.”

What about the 24 Hours of Le Mans?
“Le Mans is different. Like everyone else, we have a different package this year. We have to test our aero configuration on the long straights. We don’t know what the others will come out with. It’s going to be interesting. Hopefully we’ll be competitive. Last year was very difficult for us. We were not at the level we wanted to be and not in a position to really fight. This year, we are trying to optimise. We had some failures last year on the suspension so we’ll try to avoid that and to be as clean as possible. At the moment it looks difficult, but we’ll see.”

You’ve only driven at Le Mans once. What can you say about the experience?
“Oh, it was great! As I said, it had been a childhood dream since I was spectator in 1999. So to be there myself, as a Danish guy in the drivers parade, it was a fantastic experience. The race itself has something special too. I really enjoy driving at night. At Le Mans there’s a long straight where you can focus on what you have to do. You see all the people around the track and even at night, it’s lively. Nobody sleeps. I’m looking forward to being back and seeing the crowd and being part of the race.”

Can you tell us who the third driver will be for Le Mans?
“Actually, I don’t know.”

David Bristol / ACO

Photo: LE CASTELLET (VAR, FRANCE), CIRCUIT PAUL RICARD, WEC PROLOGUE, SUNDAY 25 MARCH 2016. The #77 Porsche 911 RSR will be a favourite to win LM GTE Pro in June.